When Jeff came into my office for the first time, he didn't know much about the Bible... and even less about the church. He didn't know Presbyterian polity, or even what the words "Presbyterian" and "polity" meant... but he did know that he needed to be "in Christ" and that he wanted to spend the rest of his life serving our Lord. Jeff said that something big happened to him when he was recovering from surgery. He said he encountered Jesus and there was no denying it. He went into the hospital as one person and left...as an entirely different person. He had been reborn-it was as simple as that- and he was looking for a community where he could grow in and live out his faith. Many years earlier, with an equal ignorance concerning both the Bible and the church, I had a similar experience in Omaha, and while I did not grow as evenly or as quickly as Jeff did, I knew- from the moment I left Eppley Center- that I could never live life as I had lived it before.
The point I'm trying to make is this: we can't encounter Christ and be the same person again! It's impossible! There are millions of stories like Jeff's and mine, and the Bible makes it clear that men like Zacchaeus, who took all that he could from the people, became generous... when he dined with Jesus; and that desperate men and women, whose sons and daughters were dying, found compassion, power, and life when they encountered Jesus! Some of those who encountered Jesus were restored to family and community, some were healed, some were fed, some called, some challenged, and some became downright angry. But they were all changed. And we are too... when we open our hearts and minds to his word and his presence in our midst. When we encounter Jesus, and here I don't mean joining a church or reading about him, we are forever changed. Some of us are given hope, some of us find a place where we can love and be loved, some of us find a ministry where we can visit the sick, teach the kids, or give to a ministry like Christian Care. Some of us, like Paul, undergo a total rearrangement of our values and beliefs, and some of experience the healing grace of being forgiven and accepted, which is what happened to Peter after he had denied Christ. Forgiveness lies at the very heart of the cross. It is the central reason Christ emptied himself of divinity and came down to us, and it is- whether we know it or not- the one thing that we all need... more than anything else!
With this in mind, let's join Peter as he encountered the Risen Christ! Everybody knows at least a little about Simon ben Jonah, the fisherman whom Jesus renamed Peter, "Rock," or if you prefer, "Rocky." Peter... was a brash and sometimes impulsive man. No one has ever doubted his heart, but he had a tendency to over-promise and under-perform. When they arrested Jesus at Gethsemane, Peter was the one who drew a sword; when Jesus asked the disciples who they thought he was, Peter was the one who cried, "You are the Christ;" when Jesus began to wash the disciples' feet, Peter was the one who said, there's no way that I will ever let you wash my feet. Peter said a lot of things. Some were wise, some were ill-considered... but his great shame came the night he and a few others were huddled around a fire in Caiaphas' courtyard. After they arrested Jesus, they took him to the High Priest, and Peter followed... at a distance... because he didn't want to be recognized as one of his friends. So, he adopted a low profile and warmed himself by a fire... when one of the men near him accused him of being a follower of Jesus', and Peter denied it. Someone else thought that they had seen him with Jesus, and Peter denied it. Finally, a lowly servant girl confronted him, and Peter said it plainly, "I told you that I don't even know the man"... just as they led Jesus past him... and their eyes met. We can't know what Jesus thought, but we do know that the incident broke Peter's heart... because the Bible says that he went out into the darkness and cried like a baby!
Have you ever been disappointed in yourself... when you didn't show the courage that you thought you would? Have you ever been disappointed with your own behavior or your words because they were so far below your best self? Have you ever seen yourself as hero, only to discover that you aren't? Have you ever been entangled in a sin that kept you longer and cost you more than you thought it would? Have you ever done a wrong that you couldn't make right? Have you ever hurt the one you loved and betrayed yourself in the process? If so, you can relate to Peter, who loved Jesus with all of his heart... and had to live with the fact that the last words Jesus ever heard him say were "I don't know the man." Peter, for all of his love, had a stain that nothing could ever erase. So... he went fishing... with John, the Twin, James, Nathanael (from Cana), and two other disciples who didn't get named. They went fishing, and as they still do, they fished with nets at night. Come morning, they hadn't caught a thing until an unrecognized man on the shore told them where to cast. Then they caught fish- 153 of them- and John said, "it's Jesus!"... which prompted Peter to jump into the water and splash his way to shore, where they had a cookout- a breakfast of bread and fish. But Jesus wasn't there to feed them!
He was there to do business with the fisherman whom he had named Rocky. Simon, son of John, he said (no longer calling him "Peter"), do you love me more than these? Of course I do, Peter replied. Then tend to my lambs, Jesus said, which made sense because Jesus had already noted that those who love him are those who hear AND obey his word. Simon, Jesus asked again, "Do you love me?" Yes Lord, you know that I love you. Then feed my sheep! Feed my sheep, not in the abstract, but in the concrete. In your world. Feed the sheep whom I have placed in your home, your neighborhood, your place of work, your church. Feed them in my name. Feed them in all the ways that people need to be fed, and in this way you will show your love for me. "Simon, do you love me?" He asked again, and Peter was frustrated because this was the third time he had been asked the same question. "Lord, since you know everything, you already know that I love you." Then feed my sheep until they lead you to a cross of your own. "Follow me," Jesus said, which were the words that Peter heard in the beginning, "Follow me." Peter was offered a "do over," a "mulligan." "Follow me." They were healing words. Empowering words. Words that brought tears to his eyes.
Peter looked at John and asked, "what about him?" John is not your business, Jesus replied. Just follow me, Peter... and he did. He gave up fishing for good, and he gave up his life for Jesus ... because he had been given another chance. Jesus invited him to express his love and to remake his decision to follow him. Jesus allowed him to express his love for him- so that his last words would be "I love you"... and he gave him a new beginning when he said, "Follow me." It was the last call "the Rock" would ever need. How about you? Have you done business with Jesus? Can you believe that we have a God who is so loving that he would take the time to put a man back together before he went to his Father? No matter what you've done or left undone, whether you feel guilty, ashamed, fearful, unloved, unworthy, or incomplete, Jesus is the answer. He is really is. When it comes to renewal and empowerment, to healing and purpose, to forgiveness and acceptance, Jesus is the answer, and he can change your life just like he changed Peter's life, and Paul's life, and Jeff's life. I promise! Amen.
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